HRH Duke of Gloucester visits Battersea Power Station

Construction Youth Trust’s Chairman, Andy Wates, and CEO, Carol Lynch, were delighted to welcome His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester to the Battersea Power Station site in Central London to visit the ‘Budding Brunels’ education and training project. The initiative is funded by the Mace Foundation. Mace is the Principal Construction Manager on the scheme.

Whilst visiting, HRH The Duke of Gloucester met 25 students from schools in Wandsworth and Lambeth, as well as Simon Murphy, CEO of Battersea Power Station Development Company, Jonathan Foster, Mace’s Project Director, and Colonel Ewen Cameron TD DL, Representative Deputy Lieutenant for the London Borough of Wandsworth.

Over the three day ‘Budding Brunels’ project, the students aged 16-18, will participate in workshops delivered by the Construction Youth Trust, Mace and the Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC). These workshops will take place at Mace and BPSDC’s site offices as well as at The Village Hall in Circus West Village, the first phase of the Battersea Power Station redevelopment project. Students will get the chance to put their questions to experts from Mace and BPSDC, in order to gain an insight into the roles that shape the city around us.

Students will then take part in team-based practical activities related to the Battersea Power Station site and a range of workshops aiming to improve employability skills, to prepare young people for the world of work and university and apprenticeship applications.

Following the programme, more than a quarter of the students will gain a one-week work placement with Mace.

Carol Lynch, CEO of Construction Youth Trust, commented: “The Trust was delighted to welcome His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester onto our Budding Brunels course, and is extremely grateful to the Mace Foundation for their ongoing partnership with the Trust, as well as Mace and BPSDC for supporting the delivery of the Budding Brunels project at Battersea Power Station.

HRH The Duke of Gloucester met with and spoke to the next generation of construction professionals, who in the future will hopefully be working on inspirational projects, just like Battersea Power Station.”

Simon Murphy, CEO of Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC), said: “It was a real honour to welcome both His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester and a talented group of Construction Youth Trust students to Battersea Power Station. We constantly look at ways to encourage young locals to get involved with this iconic restoration project and think the Budding Brunels programme is a fantastic initiative.

We hope all those involved enjoyed their experience at Battersea Power Station, gained some insight into what it is like to work in the construction industry and I look forward to seeing some familiar faces joining the hundred or so apprentices already working here in years to come.”

Jonathan Foster, Project Director, at Mace said: “We are very pleased to welcome HRH The Duke of Gloucester to our site at Battersea Power Station to meet the young people participating in the Budding Brunels programme. With thousands of jobs on offer across the sector, it is vital we engage with the next generation to inspire and encourage them into jobs and apprenticeships in construction and the built environment.”

Follow @BatterseaPwrStn to keep up with the latest news and events at Battersea Power Station and visit batterseapowerstation.co.uk to find out more.